Mumbai, Nov. 23: Eighteen-year-old Sarath Kumar is all set to script motor-racing history by becoming the first Indian rider in the 125cc World MotoGP Championship series next year. Sarath will be the Indian face of the WTR-Ten10 Racing and he will have an Italian rider as his teammate.
After a successful 2010 season, FMSCI Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championships Ten10 Racing India announced its provisional entry for the 2011 Moto GP 125cc Championships. Kumar won this year’s Indian National Road Racing Championship crown for Ten10 Racing. Just two years into professional riding, and he considers this opportunity as a dream come true. “I’m very happy because I am doing something which no Indian rider has done before. At the same time, I am taking it just like any other race. MotoGP is a big challenge. I didn’t expect to reach there so soon,” Kumar said. Team manager and director WTR Loris Castellucci said, “I am personally very satisfied with the partnership. But 2011 will just be a transition season but we will be targeting some good results in the 2012 season.”
Kumar, who represented India in the UAM Asia Cup in Japan in September, denied having any nerves before his debut on the big stage. “If a batsman is afraid of the ball, he cannot bat in cricket. It is the same with us,” he said. “The first year I’ll look for the experience. I would like to perform well from the second year on,” he added.
Source: Deccan Chronicle